Oblivion
by scarlet phlame
Summary: "He knew he should've left the book that was lying on Madeline's shelf alone. He should not have touched it, and he most certainly should not have read it. But the temptation was too great. He couldn't wait in that suspense forever. So it came to be that dark, cold night in New York that that was exactly what he did." (HatterxMorris)
1. Prologue

_**Hello! It's been a while since I wrote for Wonderland. I hope you enjoy this little story! **_

_**This'll be a nice, short one. There are dark elements and also (hopefully) humorous elements as well. There are two narrators, but they also technically count as characters, whom you will learn about laters.**_

_**This is vaguely based off of "Alice of Human Sacrifice", the Vocaloid song. **_

_**R&R!**_

* * *

In the beginning, there was nothing. No air, no land, no space.

_Which wasn't all that pleasant, because most people like air. Air is nice. We use air to breathe._

It was cold. Dark. Distant. Nothing but emptiness.

_Excuse me, how can it be cold if there isn't anything? *cough* background check *cough*_

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

_Yeah, yeah, we get it. There was nothing. Can you cut to the chase, please?_

Except for one thing. And that was a dream.

_Yep. We all love dreams, don't we? Dreams are nice. Except when they're deadly._

This was a deadly dream.

_Yes, it was. I just said so. Get ears, narrator._

This dream held the key to life and death.

_Whoa. There's a key for that?_

This dream, little did it know, was what would soon create a fabulous new world, garnering thousands of innocent souls to add to its millennia.

_That's nice. Hey, was I the only one who had to look at a dictionary to understand that sentence?_

This dream, one made up of wishes upon thousands of stars, was the only thing in creation that was truly tangible.

_There's stars out there? I thought you said there was nothing! Geez... And when did this turn into Pinocchio? And that's like, the fifteenth sentence you started with 'this dream'. Learn English, please._

But sooner or later, this dream would fade, and wither away, for nobody dared to dream it.

_Similar what will happen to me if I have to listen to you talk anymore._

So this dream waited, thousands and thousands of years. Tucked away in the starry belts of the universe, which, at its time, resembled a nightmare.

_The only nightmare here is your narrative, mister._

Then, one day, as the dream was drifting through space and time, it happened across a tiny little green and blue planet.

_Lemme guess- it's Earth._

The planet was Earth.

_Wow, I guessed right! Somebody gimme a prize! _

This dream knew it had finally found the place where it would take root, for it was gradually fading.

_Wait, it can take root? Dreams are trees? ...Wow, that's gonna change my whole life's POV._

However, as the days passed, no one would dream such a heinous dream.

_Yep. Although you're probably more heinous than said dream._

The dream thought and thought. Finally, it came up with a solution. "What if I let people stray into my dream, and they could create their own world?"

_Yum, yum. Just curious, what was this dream trying to accomplish, exactly, by letting people dream it? Was it gonna eat them or something? _

The dream waited days, and days.

_You've been narrating for what feels like days, and days._

And for the first time in thousands of years, one child fell into its slumber.

_Yum._


	2. The First

It all started with three mistakes.

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no, no no! Take the left! No, the left! NO! You're gonna crash! Take the left–"

"Oh, for God's sake, you drive!"

"I can't drive! I'm eating potato chips!"

"So hurry up and eat them!"

"No way! I'll get the wheel greasy! Nobody likes a greasy wheel!"

"Fine, then. Go wash your hands. I'll pause it. You're such a wimp."

As if shutting a car window on a noisy driveway, the sounds from the game clicked off as Madeline pressed the pause button, the Ferrari they were driving frozen in midair.

"When you unpause it, it's going to fly into the lake," Morris told her disapprovingly.

"Who cares?" Madeline asked, shrugging. She stood up from the seat in her office and kneeled over. "You left crumbs all over the floor," she muttered.

"Oops," Morris said.

"I'm going to make you clean that up," she told her boyfriend. "Go get the broom and dustpan."

"No way, I'm too lazy."

"Do it, or the controller dies," Madeline said, holding a water gun threateningly towards the wheel controller set up on the table.

"Fine! Fine! Where did you even get that gun, anyway?" Morris grumbled as he went to go get a vacuum.

Madeline tilted the gun so it was facing her. She eyed the nozzle, then shrugged. "Ebay. I carry it around with me. Michelle keeps on ambushing me, thinks we're in some kind of paintgun war. She's ruined three of my nice dresses already. When I see her again, she's gonna get it."

"You're so evil," Morris said, rolling his eyes and plugging in the vacuum.

"I know," Madeline replied, smiling. "Ooh, it's nearly time to go." She pressed a kiss on his cheek, then glanced over his shoulder at the desk. There was a long receipt sticking out from a book.

"What is that?" she asked, plucking it out of the book.

Mistake number one.

"Oh, nothing," Morris said, grabbing the receipt. "Nothing."

Madeline rolled her eyes. "You're a terrible liar. What's it for?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Fine, then," Madeline mumbled. "Honestly, you're as jumpy as a hare." She was about to leave the room when the book suddenly opened.

"That's a neat trick," she said, glancing at a page. "Where did you get this book?"

Morris shrugged. "It was under the sofa. I hid the receipt in it. Thought you wouldn't notice it. So much for reverse psychology, hiding things in places where you can see 'em."

Madeline chuckled. "All right, then."

She read the page. Well, didn't really read it. She honestly couldn't. It was written in what seemed to be a completely different language. The funny thing was, when she looked at it, the words seemed to make sense. Like how nonsense things can fit together perfectly in a dream.

Not only that, but there was something positively... sinister about that book.

Damn. That could only mean one thing.

"I bet you forgot to return it to the library," Madeline reprimanded him.

"Probably, if I don't remember it," Morris said. "I have a habit of making myself forget things I don't want to remember," he joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Madeline said. "Well, I can take it to the library. It's on my way home."

She picked up the book- which was surprisingly light- and headed out the door, saluting to Morris, who saluted back.

Saluting. It was kind of like waving for them.

They surely didn't remember who had started it in the first place. Madeline supposed it started somewhere in between the ridiculous amount of war and rank video games they played.

She didn't really pay much attention to it.

Mistake number two.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Madeline Henson," Madeline told the librarian. "I think my boyfriend forgot to drop this book off?"

"Ah, let me check. What is your boyfriend's name?"

"Morris Jackson," she replied, brushing away a strand of bright red hair and handing the light book to the librarian.

"Wow, it's light," the librarian noted. "You'd think for such a thick book, it'd have a bit more weight to add to it."

Madeline shrugged. "Aren't you used to carrying heavy books?"

The librarian looked slightly offended, but shrugged it off. "Yes, I suppose I am, which is why I was surprised at the weight."

"Oh," Madeline said, slightly embarrassed. "Eh."

She glanced around, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, in time to the subtle click of the clockhands ticking away on the wall.

"I'm sorry, is this some kind of joke?"

Madeline turned around. "Saywha?"

"This book is empty," the librarian said. "It's been carved out. The insides are empty."

Madeline fidgeted. "But... it was just... I read it. Not that long ago."

"I'd kindly suggest you'd leave," the librarian said, in as polite a tone she could muster.

"Um... okay," Madeline said, grabbing the book and leaving the library. As soon as she was outside, she tore the cover open.

No. The script was still there, staring at her numbly with those old, ancient letters.

How odd.

* * *

"That's odd," Morris said, once Madeline had reiterated her tale. "Dya think she was old and confused or something?"

Madeline shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted. "This book gives me the creeps."

Morris shrugged. "Burn it, then."

"But- why?" Madeline asked, startled.

"In all those creepy horror movies, most of the time, everything can be prevented by throwing whatever the thing is that curses people by destroying it. So stick it in the fire and leave."

"I'm not worried about curses," Madeline said. "i just..."

There was impatient silence on the other end. "You just what?'

"I don't know," Madeline said, exhaling sharply. "you know what, I think I'll just ask Michelle. She's an archeologist, and this thing seems old. I'm gonna go to bed now."

Morris nodded. "drive safely."

Madeline hit him in the arm. "Shut up."

Then she left, went home, tidied up, and lay in bed.

Then closed her eyes.

And fell asleep.

Mistake number three.


	3. The Second

_Starships were meant to fly_

_Hands up and touch the sky_

_Can't stop_

_'Cos we're so high_

_Let's do this one more time_

_Starships were meant to-_

"Oh, crap," Jack said, turning off his radio and picking up the ringing phone. "Jack Milligan, what can I do you for? Huh? What? No way, you're kidding. Okay, I'll see you soon. Bye."

Jack put the phone down.

_No. It couldn't be. It was much too soon for that. _

He picked up his coat and raced to the hospital.

Mistake number one.

* * *

"Jack!" Morris looked surprised to see his best friend- well, only friend- at the hospital. Although it was expected. Even if Madeline was his ex, it was so typical they'd just have to remain friends. Which... was sort of okay with Morris. He didn't like arguments much.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"Dunno," Morris said, swaying a little from his anxiety. "The doctor says she's in a coma."

Jack paced. "How would that happen?"

Morris shrugged. "I've honestly got no clue at all."

Jack bit his lip. "All right, then. I'll go find out."

Morris jumped after him. "Jack, you can't just barge into a hospital and-"

"Watch me," Jack said, exiting the room and approaching a nurse. He flashed his ID. "Jack Milligan. I'm CIA. I need to ask you a few questions about Madeline Henson..."

* * *

Unknown to Morris, Jack broke into Madeline's apartment late at night. He glanced around. Not much had changed, from the scattered consoles and DVDs lying around on the floor. An old run of Alice in Wonderland was still playing on repeat.

How typical. Madeline always watched movies before she went to sleep, he supposed it was the same way this time.

He looked around the room for anything out of the ordinary. Anything **out of her character** to do.

Aha. There it was.

A big blueish heavy-looking navy book sat on the counter next to her bed. He immediately went to pick it up, before remembering the rules.

"Right. Okay." He reached over and grabbed her phone, then dialed a number. The librarian's.

"Hello?"

"It's Jack."

"What is it this time?"

"I found it. The thing. It's this big navy book of some kind."

"You think this is the out of character thing?"

"I don't think, _Alice_. I'm positive."

"Ohh... all right, then. I'll be over. Don't do anything stupid, all right?"

"All right."

He placed the phone back down on the receiver, pacing back and forth, back and forth.

His eyes fell on the book.

Okay, it was a book. An out of the ordinary book. An out of character book.

Well, he wasn't gonna wait for Alice to get here. Screw that.

He flipped open the cover and was greeted by an unfamiliar language.

He knew he should've left the book that was lying on Madeline's shelf alone. He should not have touched it, and he most certainly should not have read it.

But that was exactly what he did.

Mistake number two.

* * *

"So... I know you probably can't hear me," Morris said. "But I, uh... Just wanted to kinda..." he scratched the back of his neck. "I dunno. I honestly don't know what to say. I keep hoping you're gonna just wake up and smack me for something I did."

He sighed. How pointless was this?

"Uhm... well, I guess I might as well give you your present," he said, placing something on the counter next to Madeline's hospital bed. "I'm so bad at hiding receipts," he mumbled. "I think I'll just leave, then," he mumbled, looking at the clock. "Don't want to get kicked out."

He turned and left.

She looked so pretty when she was sleeping, it was hard to tell whether she was awake or not.

* * *

"So what'd you find?" Morris asked Jack.

Jack sighed. "Nothing. Except for this stupid book, which I don't think helps at all. It gave me a headache to read it."

Morris shrugged, taking a sip from his coffee. "Figures."

The two men were currently sitting at a cafe by the edge of town. Pretty much nothing had happened all day, and that was to both of their losses.

"Do you think she's gonna wake up soon?" Morris blurted, unexpectedly.

"I'm no doctor, I've got no clue," Jack mumbled. "So don't ask me."

"She used to love that show," Morris muttered.

"What show?"

"Huh?" Morris looked startled. "Oh, nothing. Never mind."

Jack raked his fingers through his hair, glancing at his watch. "Oh, shoot, it's getting late. I'd probably better get home by now, if I wanna finish that case I was working on a while ago."

"See ya," Morris said, as Jack stood up from the table, and got into his car.

And drove away. Parked his car in the garage.

Brushed his teeth. Didn't bother to change into his pajamas.

Lay down in bed.

And fell asleep.

Mistake number three.


	4. Coma

_**I did not draw the cover pic. It belongs to Beyondi, whose profile link I have listed on my Tumblr under one of the other cover pics she did for me. Besides, you've seen my art. My elephants look like giraffes, and my giraffes look like... I don't know. But they don't look like giraffes, anyway.**_

* * *

"We've never seen anything like this," the doctor said.

Just a day after Madeline had fallen into a coma, Jack had joined her in the same sleep. The life signs shown on the monitor were identical, changes were the same and so were fluctuations.

Like they were dreaming the same dream.

"Do you think it's a coincidence?" Morris wondered aloud.

"It has to be," the doctor concluded. "There is no scientific basis for them to be having the same dream at the same time."

Morris pointed at the monitor, which was now spiking, both patterns identical. "Then how do you explain that? I'm no doctor, but there's something weird about this whole thing."

"We should check the equipment again," the doctor mumbled. "I don't understand it."

He exited the room. Morris looked down at the monitors again, shaking his head and leaving the room.

Didn't really notice that Madeline's monitor changed when he left the room.

* * *

Morris' next stop was Madeline's apartment.

He knew he shouldn't be snooping around in here, but it felt necessary. There had to be some kind of circumstance that had caused both of them to fall asleep.

"Damn," he said, circling the room. He clicked off the television, which was playing Alice in Wonderland on loop. Must've been running for hours, the console was burning.

The television switched itself back on.

"Must be broken," he mumbled, pressing the off switch again and again. Nothing turned off, not even a little flicker.

He unplugged the television, but the screen didn't go dark.

Morris raised an eyebrow. "What the hell?"

* * *

Something weird was going on.

_Uh... that's obvious, by now. You gonna hurry up and finish?_

This is important. We need to focus. There isn't a lot of time.

_I know, but... what do you expect me to do, stuck like this?_

Shut up. You know the rules. We can't relay too much detail.

_We aren't supposed to be communicating like this, either._

Well, it's impossible to ignore you. So, tough.

_Yeah, yeah. Duh. Continue?_

* * *

"I don't see anything but a blank screen," Michelle complained.

"But... look, it's still on," Morris said, hopelessly.

"I don't think it's even plugged in," Michelle mumbled, reaching over and pushing the plug into the outlet. "There, we go."

Morris stared at the screen, still playing the old Alice in Wonderland cartoon. "Now what do you see?"

Michelle made a face. "The Muppets. I hate the Muppets."

"But... that's not what I see!" Morris complained.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Morris, you know, I think you're just..." she sighed. "I think you really need to get some sleep. You're probably going mad, by now. It's understandable, really. I heard what happened to Madeline and Jack. I went and visited them."

Morris grabbed Michelle by the shoulders. "Michelle, something is wrong here."

"Yes, I'm looking at it," Michelle complained. "Oh, come off it. You're deprived of sleep, and you're seeing things. It's a classic fact of life."

"I s'pose so, Cora," Morris mumbled.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Now I know you're making things up, because it's been years since anyone called me that."

"I don't know," Morris said, shaking his head. "It just... came up."

Michelle sighed. "Okay, here's my advice. Go home. Get some sleep. I bet when you wake up, you'll feel a lot better."

Her gaze fell on the book on Madeline's shelf. "You don't mind if I borrow that book?"

"No, why?" Morris wondered.

"I just wanted something to remember Madeline by," Michelle said innocently.

Morris frowned. "Don't talk like that."

"Still... just in case. We are best friends, after all," Michelle told him.

"Yes, yes, I suppose," Morris said. He walked over to the shelf to retrieve the book, and handed it to Michelle. Then, froze.

"I've seen this before!" he said.

"Wh- what?! What do you mean, you've seen it before? Where?"

"It was..." Morris hesitated. "I found it, in my truck. I hid a reciept in it. She opened it up and..." tears pricked at his eyes, and he wiped them away. "Nah. Sorry. You take it."

"You sure?" Madeline asked cautiously.

"Yes, yes, of course," Morris replied. "Yes, that's all right. You keep it. You keep it."

* * *

_**Morris is not sweet, I do understand that point. There's a reason for everyone's OOCness, but why, I'm not telling you.**_


	5. Calm Before the Storm

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter~ It is a bit short, but it's sort of like a mid-epilogue~**_

* * *

"Whoa..." Madeline groaned, sitting up. "What the hell?"

She surveyed the area. Okay. That was nice.

When she looked around, all she saw was trees. Thousands and thousands of trees, set about in the darkness into which she could barely see.

"Oh, well, okay," she mumbled. "Yeah, I get it. It's a weird dream of some sort."

She stood up, then looked down at her clothes, which dragged as she walked. "What the heck?" she felt on her head. "Is that a hat?"

She tried to pull it off. Nothing. It was as if it was superglued to her hair.

"Some weird dream this is," she mumbled, then froze.

On the ground, there was a very familiar, heavy-looking navy book.

She leaned over and tried to pick it up, recoiling at the weight. God, it was heavy.

"Okay..." she gritted her teeth, silently counting numbers to herself. "One... two... three... fourfivesix!" she shouted, yanking the book upwards.

"Geez," she said, struggling. "You'd think someone was purposely dropping this into my arms."

* * *

_"Oh, shoot!" Michelle said. "I dropped it!"_

_She leaned over and picked up the book._

* * *

As if on cue, the book immediately lightened, as if it'd lost ahold on gravity.

"Okay, weird," Madeline said. "That is just... very weird."

She opened the cover and peeked in.

The words were now written very clearly in English.

She read the first page aloud.

"In the beginning, there was nothing. No air, no land, no space."

She frowned at the next sentence. The paragraphs were ridiculous and didn't seem to resemble a book at all, more like a... dialogue, of some sort. And... like these two narrators were communicating with each other. Although, they weren't, really. One was just making snarky comments on the other's narration. "_Which wasn't all that pleasant, because most people like air. Air is nice. We use air to breathe."_

Madeline frowned. Okay, that was weird. Very, very weird.

She continued, her eyes scanning the page. She flipped past a few pages, then froze at a very familiar name.

_"But... look, it's still on," Morris said, hopelessly._

_"I don't think it's even plugged in," Michelle mumbled, reaching over and pushing the plug into the outlet. "There, we go."_

_Morris stared at the screen, still playing the old Alice in Wonderland cartoon. "Now what do you see?"_

"Holy crap," Madeline breathed. "What the heck?"

She turned back a few pages.

_"Oops," Morris said._

_"I'm going to make you clean that up," she told her boyfriend. "Go get the broom and dustpan."_

_"No way, I'm too lazy."_

"But... these are all things that just happened," Madeline said, confused. She turned a few pages, her heart sinking at the text. "How is this even possible?"

She let go of the book and backed away. It fell, ever so slowly, to the ground.

"Oh, my God," she breathed. "I've lost it. I've gone completely insane."

She kicked the book as hard as she could. Then she took off, running, into the forest.


	6. Part 2

I'm floating.

Not quite literally. But it most certainly feels that way. I'm not attached to the ground as I bound towards the door at the end of the hall.

I'm flying past plenty of people. People who I can't seem to recognize. Irrelevant people.

There are hundreds of doors in this room, but my focus is on one.

I don't skid to a stop. I ram into the door and my fingers fumble, finding the handle.

I rip the door open and my mouth falls agape.


End file.
